Brand New IDEO: Mumbai's Minimum Viable Logo, Windows on the World

On Monday, IDEO Mumbai started the day with a video Global Make-a-Thon baton handoff from Singapore (pictured above), in which the latter team shared the work that happened in both the Singapore and Tokyo studios while we were asleep. Their sessions resonated with our own initial thinking and we were able to continue working on themes around physicalizing the logo and understanding what local means.

We were very interested in the idea of a "minimal viable IDEO logo"—is it the four boxes or the typographical treatment or the placement that gives the IDEO logo strength? We considered how we might use the logo as a framework for showcasing Mumbai. We also thought about ways to showcase the connections we have to colleagues in other locations around the world and how we learn from each other. Our early concepts included:

1.) Alternate History: We wanted to celebrate all the local languages in India—and our studio—by replacing the "I" with individuals speaking their mother tongue and welcoming everyone to IDEO. We took a page from the Smothers Brothers and the IDEO Toy Lab by prototyping a life-size IDEO logo with the "I" cut out, showing people and local examples of design. Our video features Divya Viswanathan (Hindi), Riddhima Gupta (Punjabi), Lacquer toys from Chennapatna, Tarun Rawat (Hindi), George Joseph (English), Goutam Pal (Bengali) and Presswallah's coal iron.

2.) Windows on the World: Building on the Singapore studio's notion of "Windows on the World," George Joseph and Priti Rao used the "O" in IDEO as a window to photos from Mumbai and other IDEO locations. George prototyped with a print out of the logo, taped it to his screen, and used Keynote to animate photos from Mumbai, Singapore, Tokyo and Shanghai.

3.) IDEO CUBE: Gaurav Raut has been working on a three-dimensional IDEO cube driven by Servos and Arduino. He used the analogy of the shifting faces of a Rubik's cube to communicate how diversity can coexist within the same space. He did this by distorting the IDEO logo and helping it interact with other elements of the cube before returning back to its original position.

4.) Geographic Inspiration Boxes - Divya Viswanathan and Randy Plemel explored how to show all of the IDEO locations at the same time through local photos, portraits, and our logo. Using the horizontal version of the logo, we created multiple boxes that cycle through different permutations of the logo, map locations and local photos at each office.

Tarun Rawat summed up IDEO Mumbai's role in the Global Make-a-Thon: "Much of what we explored illustrated the connections between different IDEO locations through places, images, and people." Randy Plemel concurred, noting, "While there is a shared concept of IDEO which spans geographies, we are always on the lookout for what is unique to IDEO Mumbai. We are always looking for what India can teach us, and then what India can teach IDEO."

Check out Mumbai's concepts on our Six Themes Tumblr site and their video summary above.

IDEO has roots dating back to 1978. Today, IDEO is an award winning global design and innovation consultancy. We create positive impact through design by taking a human-centered approach to helping organizations in the public and private sectors innovate, grow, and bring to market new ideas. We partner with leaders and change agents to identify new market opportunities, add value, and solve meaningful problems. We design and launch innovative products, services, ventures, and brands by...

IDEO has roots dating back to 1978. Today, IDEO is an award winning global design and innovation consultancy. We create positive impact through design by taking a human-centered approach to helping organizations in the public and private sectors innovate, grow, and bring to market new ideas. We partner with leaders and change agents to identify new market opportunities, add value, and solve meaningful problems. We design and launch innovative products, services, ventures, and brands by combining business acumen with human-centered market insights. We help organizations to build the capabilities required to sustain innovation.

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